


Time after time

by vdecember



Category: Arrival (2016), SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, Gay sci-fi, M/M, Memories, Non-Linear Narrative, Science Fiction, Tragic Romance, soft sci-fi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:09:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27496966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vdecember/pseuds/vdecember
Summary: Set in the universe of the movie "Arrival" (2016), Chwe Hansol is representing the Korean embassy in the course of the prestigious Dr Louise Banks on the nonlinear language of heptapods. When he meets Lee Jihoon in a bar, this new language makes him feel not only time in a nonlinear way, but also life and love.
Relationships: Chwe Hansol | Vernon/Lee Jihoon | Woozi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	Time after time

**Author's Note:**

> This work is heavily inspired by the movie "Arrival" (2016) by Denis Villeneuve, which by itself is based on the 1998 short story "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang. The story explores concepts of nonlinear memory, perspective on time, out-of-this-world languages etc; I highly recommend it!
> 
> If you're not familiar with that story but want to understand the basics of this work, here's a guide:  
> https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/explaining-the-arrival-ending/
> 
> This is also my first attempt at a English fic (it's not my first language), so be aware of possible errors. Enjoy and thank you for reading! :)

> _'If you're lost, you can look, and you'll find me_
> 
> _Time after time'_
> 
> _\- "Time After Time", by Cyndi Lauper (1983)_

“If you could see your whole life from start to finish, would you change things?”

Dr Louise Banks started the course on heptapod language with this question, and it has stuck with me ever since. Being sent by the Korean embassy to be the country's representative in the first international course hosted by Dr Louise was certainly a burden, but as soon as I heard that phrase, I realized how blessed I was to have the opportunity to be in that room.

As expected, I didn’t take long to learn, being one of the first in the class to be able to formulate a sentence, both in written and spoken form. As a child, I used to say that I remembered the exact process of how I learned to speak my first word: "mommy". My mom and dad, as well as all the other adults around me, thought it was a way that I found to attract attention and tried to find explanations for my supposed memory, assuming that I could have dreamed about it or just invented it with my imaginative child mind and had trouble distinguishing reality from fiction. Anyway, this memory - if it was a memory at all - became more and more vivid with each Dr Louise class.

I wouldn't know until a few months later, but it was the first effect of the heptapods’ nonlinear language on my mind.

\---

It was a Friday night; I know that because there was a UFC fight on the bar's television. I was drinking whiskey on the counter and the bartender was making terrible drinks.

It's amazing how miserably my memory fails every time I need to remember important things - such as my Netflix account’s password or the last word I exchanged with my ex-girlfriend after she cheated on me - but even so, it’s so easy for me to remember every moment of the first time I saw him. He was sitting at a table a few steps away, and my eyes immediately met his. As if he were embarrassed by the quick glance at each other, he quickly ducked and concentrated back on the television, drinking his beer. I laughed and stood up, heading for him.

"Hello, good night," I said, taking him by surprise. He almost spit the beer out of his mouth.

“Hi…” he said, visibly confused. “Sorry, do I know you?”

"Now you do, my name is Hansol, you can call me Vernon," I said, extending my hand. He hesitated but ended up shaking my hand, still suspicious. "Do you mind if I sit down so we can share a beer?"

“Nice to meet you, Vernon. I’m Jihoon, but people call me Woozi. I’m sorry, I’m not really into company today”, he grunted, trying his best to be polite, and then turned his attention to the television, as if he were ignoring my presence right in front of him.

"Let's make a deal, what do you think?" I asked and he rolled his eyes after taking another sip of beer. He didn't say anything else but I took it as a 'proceed'. "If I guess it right why you're here, drinking alone on a Friday night in this run-down bar, you invite me over for a drink with you."

He snickered. "Okay. Try it."

“It's your birthday. I mean, it’ll be your birthday. An hour and thirteen minutes from now. You wanted to come and spend the night here because this was where your mother used to bring you to celebrate, at the time this was not a bar but a family restaurant.” I admit that I could have stopped right there, he was already frozen, looking me in the eyes with a mix of terror and surprise. But there was more to say.

"However, you were wondering why the hell you thought it would bring some sort of satisfaction. In fact, you just became sad after remembering that time has passed, not only for this place, but also for you."

He looked me in the eye and then asked, "How do you know that?"

"You told me".

"Excuse me, did _I_ tell you?" He replied indignantly with a shocked laugh, he probably was thinking I was some sort of maniac. "When?"

"On the night of our second anniversary together," I reply and he looks even more confused. "Well, at the least the first half. I presumed the rest".

"What?"

"If you can honor your deal and invite me to sit down for a drink, I can explain."

He then pointed to the chair for me to sit and asked the bartender for two more glasses of beer, his face had gone pale but as soon as he looked at me again and our eyes met again, I felt something that wasn’t fear exhaling on him: Interest. Curiosity. Desire.

He took a last sip from his glass and then protested. "You already had your invitation, now explain".

A smile spread at the corner of my mouth. "Well... where can I start?"

\---

"Thinking back, the way you approached me that night was very creepy," Jihoon whispered through a laugh.

His head was lying on my chest, his hands caressing my chest. That was my favorite position to be with him. His entire house had already adapted to become our home, but the room especially seemed to belong to both him and me. On one side, there were anime posters and Marvel funko dolls, and on the other, a collection of vinyls and colorful sweaters. I don’t remember exactly how many months into the relationship we were, but I’m gonna guess five or six.

"I don't know what went on in my head about reaching out to you like that," I confessed. "I think knowing exactly what would happen next made it easier."

"So in a way it was a cheat?" He asked back.

"What do you mean, cheating?" I pretended to be offended by the accusation and he laughed.

"In my head it still doesn't make sense, we met that night, but you already knew that we were going to date. However, if you hadn't talked to me that night and said all that, it wouldn't have worked," he said, while his fingers continued to dance over my body. He had this habit of speaking while his hands worked, mostly on a keyboard, but this habit remained on other occasions. “It’s a terrible paradox, it makes no sense."

"And what about love makes sense?" I asked. With a smile on my face, I approached his face to mine and kissed him. "In addition, if you wanted to learn the language of the heptapods that I’ve already offered to teach, everything would make sense. It doesn't make sense to you because you’re used to linearity, to the succession of events."

"I already told you, it wouldn't work for me. There were several reports from people who tried to understand and failed, I'm pretty sure I fit that statistic."

"I don't agree with that, but never mind," I said. "I don't want to fight with you today."

"Neither do I, I'm feeling so good right here and right now." He said, laying his head back on my chest and now watching the wind swing the bedroom curtains.

"Me too," I sighed. "Me too…”

\---

The pleasant breeze that the agile movement of the boat made in the sea hit my face that late afternoon. Except for the noise of children screaming and the smell of vomit from a lady who was sick, everything was perfect. I was lying between Jihoon's legs, with my head resting on his torso. We were celebrating our third anniversary together. I couldn’t take my eyes off the sky.

Slowly, Jihoon grabbed my hand and indiscreetly brought our clasped hands close to my eye. I saw the palm of his hand touching the back of mine and making me notice the ring on his finger, which was the same as the one with me.

"What is that?" I asked in surprise.

"I bought one like yours," he replied. "I thought you would notice it at first since you're so observant, but it didn't happen as I predicted."

I stood up and kissed him quickly. When our mouths parted, I couldn't help but laugh. "We’re so cheesy, oh my God. Boat trips together, kisses all the time, now even similar rings..."

He started laughing as well. His laugh was so contagious, especially with the strong wind blowing his hair.

"After all, where are you taking me?" I asked, brushing the strands of hair in front of his eye.

"It's a surprise," he replied, smiling slightly, without showing his teeth, receiving a long peck from me.

Sometimes he forgot how I see the world, how he couldn't actually surprise me at that moment. I knew exactly that he was taking me to a coastal island where he had rented a beach house for the weekend. I knew he would be outraged when he found out that the main market on the island would be closed because of a local holiday and that would put an end to the dinner plans he made, and we would end up eating cup noodles for a romantic dinner. I knew he would give me a Billy Ocean vinyl as a gift because he got confused with Frank Ocean, who I mentioned a month before, saying I’d like to have a physical copy of his album. I also knew that I would love every second beside him, and that I couldn't keep it to myself: I would officially propose to him that night, even though I knew we would never get married.

I remembered it all, even though it didn’t happen for him yet, but I just went along with it.

\---

Studying Dr Louise’s books was tragically difficult at first, but after dominating the heptapods’ non-linear and circular words, it became easy. And it was an endless job, even after graduating from the course; I was studying to be one day just like her, and teach as well.

It had been one year and a half since I had met Jihoon. And there are so many stories and moments that it would take countless words to describe. He had been lost for so long, trying to find himself, and just like me, he felt it all. Every flower. Every thorn. What Jihoon and I realized in three years was that, regardless of the pain, we met. We remade ourselves. We allowed ourselves to breathe again, because even after all the turbulence that they went through in their lives, they opened a space to let someone in. And it was an unspoken rule to never mention our pasts.

“What is your favorite memory?” One day, I asked him. We were on a library and Jihoon was pretending to listen to my rants about heptapods while he read a book on music production. I didn’t expect a repartee. Or an answer including myself. I asked because I wanted to get know him better, especially because we’ve been together for more than fifteen months. And I always asked that question to anyone who was willing to listen, be it a lady who stopped her on the street to ask for information and who in a few minutes of conversation gave her the freedom of the question and in seconds she saw the gleam in the eyes of those who had a childhood sweet, playing hide and seek with the 5 friends from the small street she lived on. Or it was a child, a little boy in which he was flying a kite in the street and his smile grew when he remembered when his mother brought his favorite chocolate from the market, and he insisted on saying "the one with the little blue pack that comes with the same". Small details made all the difference. And that was what I wanted to listen from him: the moments when he was the happiest.

He glanced at me, confused by the sudden question.

“It can be any memory, any memory, as long as it is happy. I like happy memories!” I insisted.

“Favorite memory? Now you got me. I have so many”, replied Jihoon.

“Choose one and share it with me, it can be anything, even if it’s silly, I don’t care.”

“Ah, I don't know... There was a time when I traveled with my mother from my old city to Seoul. We were on a bus, it was mid-afternoon and and then I put my favorite band to play while watching the country road; the blue sky, the birds flying, the unknown people whose faces I knew I would possibly never see again...” He stopped to breathe and thought about what to say next. “And wow, it was right after I had a giant existential crisis about my place on the world. I think it was at that time that I realized how lucky I was to be here, you know. It will sound cringy, I guess, but I was really thankful to exist. This is one of my favorite memories because I remember exactly how it felt when I thought about it”, Jihoon told me.

“Wow…” I didn't know what to say. “It’s not cringy at all, it’s so… beautiful? I didn’t expect that”.

He giggled. “Now if you let me come back to my book, I’d appreciate that”.

\---

Our first date was at the movies, two weeks after we met at the bar. He tried to outwit me and refuse all my invitations via text, but he ended up giving in to at least one date with me. And then I promised I would get off his feet if he didn't like it, that was basically the deal.

Then Saturday came. It all started when I knocked on his door at six, exactly as arranged. “Hi, you look nice”, I said as soon as he opened the door. He was already dressed in his casual clothes; a Captain America shirt, jeans and a red jacket. “Ready for the best date of your life?”

He smiled and crossed his arms.

“You know you shouldn't raise my expectations so much, right? It can be frustrating if you do all this preparation and, in the end, end up taking me to a taco stand. I would have to dismiss you.” He grunted, with the Jihoon’s-own-way-of-grunting. In my entire life, I have never seen anyone who has the same angry face and annoyed voice as Jihoon when he grumbles.

I act surprised, “Oh no. Don't you like tacos? My plan now is ruined.”

“You’re a terrible actor as well”, he giggled. “You’re also make me question myself on why I agreed to all of this”.

“Alright, alright. Attempts to make you anxious stop here. But you should trust me more sometimes, you know? The less you wait, the more I can surprise you.” We walked together to the end of the hall and entered the empty elevator.

“I’m aware of your ability to surprise, damn the whole bar conversation proved it - and I still have questions about that -, but I slightly doubt the romantic potential of all this”, he comments while I press the button for the elevator to go down. “You know, considering this is possibly your last chance, I can't wait too long for the fun to begin.”

He jokes but I keep silent, staring at the elevator doors. I get angry at him for a few minutes, considering he has been downplaying all of my efforts to have a good date, but then I remember what he said to me seven months after. He said that at this moment it crossed his mind that maybe, just maybe, he went too far. That maybe he hurt me with his irony, and that’s when he started to realize that maybe everything I said to him at the bar was true. That he was going to fall in love with me. He had never considered to low the levels of his sarcasm and sadistic jokes around others, but he felt the need when he was with me. That’s enough for me to open a smile and go on with the rest of the day.

“Don’t worry”, I said as we left the elevator. “I’m sure I will meet your expectations today.”

The buildings with glowing details and old posters, the bright lights that illuminate the path, the smell of popcorn in the air... Every aspect of the place indicates: we are in a cinema. I look at Woozi and he seems amazed by this local theater I found, it’s designed specifically to resemble old cinema's.

We continue walking along the main street. “It's beautiful, isn’t it?” I ask him. “I really thought you were going to like it.”

To be honest, I knew that he would absolutely love this place. It became one of his favorite destinations on this part of the town.

Jihoon points to food trucks that I can see from a distance, through the crowd passing from side to side, “we can eat first if you like”.

“Sure, let’s go”.

“By the way,” he stops me for a minute. “What film are we going to watch?”

“La dolce vita, by Federico Fellini. A friend of mine recommended it.”

\---

I was frowning as Jihoon dragged me to the beach. He was pissing me off over a bonfire party for over a week. It was funny because at this point of our relationship, after two years and a half, I was the one who resisted going places. I didn't like places with a lot of people. I only went to parties with close friends. But there were literally a bunch of strangers there, and I only knew Jihoon.

“I shouldn't have come.” I complain, as Jihoon and I approach a group of people around a fire. It was a pleasant weather, hot, with a light icy breeze to balance the temperature. Everything was lively, people talking, laughing, and I was just there, sitting on one of the logs that surrounded the fire, when someone blocked my view.

“My favorite couple finally arrived!” Seungcheol yelled, hugging Jihoon and I. Jihoon and he have been friends for a long time and he has been very enthusiastic about our relationship. According to him, this is the first time he has seen Jihoon actually in love with someone.

“Can you still sing?” Cheol asked me, Jihoon was grinning beside him.

“I think I do… why?” I asked a little suspiciously.

“That’s nice, you’ll be singing today”, he replied laughing.

“Who, _me_? No way!” I retorted, crossing my arms.

“Oh, come on, you’ll like it”, Jihoon said, hugging me by behind. He knew what my weak spot was. “And you’ll get to sing your favorite Rosalía songs with me”.

“Ok, now we’re talking”, I laughed.

“Then it’s perfect,” Cheol screamed clapping his hands in joy. “Come on, they’re just waiting for us”.

When I noticed, everyone was already sitting around the fire, just waiting for Jihoon and I, which made me a bit uncomfortable. Like he was reading my mind, Jihoon put one of his arms on my shoulders and nodded for the guitar guy to start playing. He started to sing and his voice… I don’t know how to explain other than it sounded like super velvety cotton candy. It was one of the best things I’ve heard in my life. My turn was coming, so I focused on the sea in front of me and started.

Everyone was smiling and clapping to the rhythm of the music, I looked to the side while singing and Jihoon was looking at me, with a smile on his face and an unreadable look. While we sang, we stared at each other, and when I realized we were smiling, and I couldn’t care less about everyone who was watching us.

\---

“Dr Louise, can I talk to you for a second?”

“Sure, what’s the issue?” She asked, taking a good look back at me. “Vernon, am I right?”

It was in the middle of the course, I took advantage of a day that the reunion ended early to have a conversation alone with Dr Louise. She was usually busy and I was never the type who liked to bother other people, so I waited to make sure she was free to talk.

"That's right, Dr Louise. I'm Vernon."

"Nice to meet you in person, Vernon, I’ve always been slightly against this division between the students and me in this auditorium, especially because we’re merely exchanging knowledge.” She starts to gripe. “Oh, and you can just call me Louise."

“Alright… professor Louise”, I said politely. “There’s something that’s been flooding my mind lately and I think you can help me: did you also experience dreaming in the heptapods’ language after you started studying it? I’m having some weird dreams where I’m like in two or three places of my own timeline at the same time, even though that’s impossible. It’s like I’m having flashbacks and predictions about my future, all at the same time.”

She smiled.

"You would be amazed if you knew how common it is. I also experienced the exact same thing when I started to delve into that language. Trust me, you get used to it."

I just nodded in agreement, not knowing what to say.

"Do you know Federico Fellini, the Italian film director?"

"I don't think so," I replied, shaking my head.

"He was a very good director, my favorite when I was about your age. He has a very emblematic quote: 'A different language is a different vision of life'. It has become kind of cliché nowadays but it still works," she said. "Obviously Fellini was referring to the languages of the Earth when he said that, but just as learning French, Chinese or Portuguese can offer you another perspective on life, the language of the heptadods can also do it, but it’s a drastic change for almost everyone."

I remained silent.

She then continued before leaving. "You’re very, very good, Vernon. You’ve already understood the whole system of spoken and written language way better than the others. While others are still beginning to understand, you are already dreaming in another language. That is good, it might sound confusing now, but keep up the good work and you'll see it gets better. See you tomorrow."

“Dr Louise”, I interrupted before she closed the door. “One more question: if you already can see what’s going to happen," she censored me with a look, "sorry, if you remember what's supposedly the future - then can you tell if you and I will still have contact after the classes are over? I really admire you, I’d be sad if we don’t.”

“Well, Vernon”, she answered. “You’ll be able soon enough to discover that by yourself.”

\---

“Vernon, we need to talk”, Jihoon whispered, as if he had a large burden on his shoulders.

The walls of this French hotel room were so white that it was almost suffocating me, although it was probably my mind looking for something to blame while my heart melts inside. I left the bathroom and stared at him, sitting on the bed.

“Talk”, that was everything I could say to him.

“Alright, I’m going to be quick because there’s no point in taking a long time to do it”, Jihoon said, avoiding eye contact with me. “It's true, I don't love you anymore. There is nothing to explain, I don't love anymore. I realized that because I met a different guy and he made my heart accelerate the way it did when you approached me four years ago. But I…” his voice was getting shaky. “I only see you as my friend now, I’m sorry, I just can’t… pretend I’m still in love.”

My heart sank like an anchor, my lips dried up and my eyes moistened. I knew that day would come, but I wasn't ready. The sound of Paris this evening was incredibly loud, there are people celebrating loudly on the streets, cars honking, street dancers performing some hip-hop music in front of the hotel... Everything made the silence inside this room even more disturbing.

“I know.” I said, swallowing.

"How do you know?" He asked, a little irritated.

"From the first day at the bar, Jihoon, I knew this was the end of me. I knew the exact date that the flame of that love that started to burn when we met would get cold."

"And you didn't do anything to try to change my mind? Did you see me falling out of love for you and didn't do anything?"

"I tried," I sigh.

"Did you try? _How_? Bringing us to Paris?" He asks, increasingly angry. It breaks my heart to see him like this. "Although... It makes more sense that you wanted to come here to have one last good memory of us."

"This is not how it works, Jihoon. I tried everything I could," I say, honesty pouring into my words. "It's not like I have premonitions, I have memories... not memories... it's like I'm experiencing everything at the same time."

“So while we’re discussing right now, you’re also on a date with me four years ago? This doesn’t make any sense at all”.

“No, my body is only here, Jihoon. With you, on Paris. But my mind is experiencing all of this at the same time, at the same time that I'm fighting with you, I'm remembering how you held my hand in the cinema on that first date, of your paralyzed look when I approached you at the bar and also of our second anniversary.”

He gasps then looks at me.

“You told me that day, didn’t you?” He asks. “About today”.

“Yes, I did”.

\---

I spent so much time working on the eve of our second anniversary that I slept most of the day, only waking up when my cell phone vibrated. There was little time left until Jihoon arrived on my apartment door so I ran against time, showering and dressing in the most elegant clothes I had as fast as I could. I put on my shoes and walked down the stairs to the door. I opened it and there he was. Black dress shirt, jeans and the perfume I bought him the year before – he looked perfect. He approached me holding my waist and looking me up and down.

“Oh my God! You look wonderful!” He exclaimed right after he gave me a kiss.

“Thanks!” I smile. “You look flawless too.”

As it was our second anniversary – the longest each of us lasted in a relationship -, we decided it would be special. We would go to a restaurant and then I would go to his house.

“Shall we go then?” He questioned pointing to the hall.

“Of course, otherwise we’ll lose the reservation.”

We got in the car and headed for the restaurant, it was located on the exact same street as the bar we met two years before. He picked the place so I was pretty excited. Once there we entered and went to the reserved table.

“But then... How was your day?” He asked as he adjusted himself in his chair. People used to comment on our height difference but for me it was just adorable.

“Well, I slept all day basically. I was so tired… yesterday I had to catalog like fifty different species of amphibians for my boss’s project and also prepare a list of books to read for my intership with Dr Louise.”

"Yeah, you complained about it to me yesterday," he smiles.

"Sorry, I'm not going to complain about amphibians or heptapod books anymore tonight. Tonight is ours alone."

We laughed and then enjoyed the dinner at the restaurant. It was about midnight when we were over chatting.

“So... Are we going to my house?” He said placing his hand on my thigh. I smiled then approached him and kissed him, placing my right hand on his neck as we kissed inside his car. It was crazy how our bodies fit perfectly. We stopped so he could drive but we resumed as soon as he stopped in front of his house. I felt his hand slowly going down my body so I had to stop him.

“Yeah... We are kind of in the middle of the street”.

“I think we better get in just before we take off our clothes here on the street”, he said before taking his body off mine. He took the keys and opened the door, I had barely entered the house and he started kissing me. He put me against the wall while I locked the door.

“It’s so sexy to see you taking the lead”, I said between kisses and sighs.

He walked away and smirked in agreement. I went ahead and went up the stairs to the second floor, going straight to his room. He came in and I approached and whispered in his ear. “Wait a second, I need to go to bathroom”.

“Don’t take too long”.

I turned my back and went to the bathroom, took off my clothes and just kept my underwear. My head was spinning because of the wine but even then I realized I looked pretty sexy that night. I slowly left the bathroom and went to him. Smiling, I sat down on the bed and he sat on my lap, facing me with a smile on the corner of his mouth. Soon we started to kiss and he would walk his hands on my neck and chest, while I checked his curves and squeezed his ass. I swayed and whispered moans in his ear. Evidently he was already very excited and the volume in his underwear proved that. After we were done with what was probably the best sex of our entire relationship, we would soon be once again in my favorite position. Jihoon lying right beside me, our bodies warming each other, with his head on my chest while my fingers danced through his hair.

“I love you so much, Vernon”, he said out of nowhere, taking me by surprise. Even after two years together, we would only rarely say ‘I love you’ spontaneously.

“I love you too, Jihoon. I’ve always did.” I whispered back. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure”.

“Why did you choose that restaurant?”

“Well, it was close to the bar where we first met, so I thought it would be special. I used to celebrate my birthday with my mother on that bar back when it was a restaurant, so it’s special not only for us as a couple but also for me personally”, he quickly replied. It took him a few moments to realize. “Wait a second… this is what you told me to convince to let you sit down and have a drink with me.”

“Exactly”, I giggled.

“But you already knew that, didn’t you?” He looked up at me and seemed genuinely confused, as he always did when he tried to understand the whole of perceiving time in the way of the heptapods. “I know about it now, because you just told me”.

"Will I ever understand the way you see the world?"

"Yes, I think you will".

The silence dominates the room once again, as he lied down again and placed his head back on my chest. "I need to ask something that I know you know the answer to."

"Go ahead".

"How much time do we have left?"

"What do you mean?" I stutter. I know exactly what he means.

"As a couple; how much time do we have left? The two of us together.”

“Jihoon…”

“Be honest with me, please. I deserve to know.”

“We have like… two more years before we eventually split apart”, I sigh.

He stays silent for a while, probably emerged in his own thoughts.

"Can’t we cheat space-time and prolong it? I don't want to be with you for two more years," he murmurs. "Besides, I don't feel comfortable spending time in a relationship with a real deadline."

His last sentence would be incredibly sad if it weren't loaded with irony. We both laugh and his hands meet mine. "We can try, if you want", I speak.

"I want to," he says, squeezing my hand even tighter.

"Meanwhile, let's hope that time will be generous with us".

With our hands clasped over the wool of the blankets, I pushed away all my sad thoughts. He sat down and we kissed again, and it proved to me that there’s no reason to be sad. I was happy that moment, I’m happy now, in the arms of Jihoon, and I want to enjoy every single second beside him. The way we kiss, the way he sleeps on my shoulder whenever we watch a boring movie, the way he supports me in any situation, the way he touches me, the way we spent four years trying to fight against fate… it’s all worth the pain at the end of the road.

\---

The eyes of the young students watching me were filled with excitement, sadness and wonder.

“So, yeah, class. This was basically my story after dominating the heptapod language. I wanted to start this course with my own experience to show how language can change your perspective on life and change the way you see the world, down to your personal relationships.”

I drank a glass of water to hydrate my throat and take a necessary pause before moving on.

“So back to the question Dr Louise has asked me, now I ask all of you: If you could see your whole life from start to finish, would you change things? See you tomorrow, class dismissed.”

The class still looks mesmerized as they slowly leave the auditorium. I start organizing my papers until I hear a familiar voice.

“I wouldn’t.” The tone of the voice is soft and familiar, almost impossible not to recognize.

“Jihoon!” I exclaim in euphoria. He approaches me and we hug, and even after fifteen years our bodies still fit perfectly. “It has been so long”.

“It has indeed,” he says, putting his hand on my shoulder.

“How’s life going?”

“Well… I’m married to Soonhoon, that one weird guy that vomited on that bonfire party a few years ago. We’ve adopted two young boys. What about you?”

“I’m engaged to a guy but I don’t think you know him. I’ve met him only a few years ago”, I say. “I’m glad you finally took time to invest your time into learning the way of the heptapods”.

“It’s never too late”.

“You’re right.”

The silence stands between us again, but this time it’s comfortable. “We should meet again, sometime. I want to know your fiancée, he must be a nice guy since you have an excellent taste on men”.

We laugh and it feels like time hasn’t passed at all.

“Here, take my card with my number”, I said, offering him my professional card. “Call me anytime you’d like. To talk about anything”.

“I’d certainly love to. I miss our nights talking to each other like we had all the time in the world”, he says giggling. “See you later, professor Vernon”.

“See you, Jihoon”.

Before he can leave the auditorium, I shout to call his attention.

“I wouldn’t too!”

He turns back and stares at me.

“You know, I wouldn’t change a thing as well.”

Jihoon smiles.

“I know”.


End file.
